Combination bog shoe and duck boat



July 8, 1941. H. RICHARDS ETAL COMBINATION BOG SHOE AND DUCK BOAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 28, 1938 w m ,5 w @1 Q L h ww y 1941- 1 H. L. RICHARDS EI'AL 2,248,307

COMBINATION BOG SHOE AND DUCK BOAT Filed July 28 L 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VIII. 2 9/4 //A 7A d I K y /VA%WWC Patented July 8, 1941 COMBINATION BOG SHOE AND DUCK BOAT Harry Lawrence Richards, Minneapolis, and Kindy C. Wright, St. Paul, Minn.

Application July 28, 1938, Serial No. 221,760

2 Claims.

This invention relates to sportsmens equipment, and more particularly to combination boat and bog shoes.

Bog shoes have been heretofore utilized to some extent by duck hunters and others and have to applicants knowledge consisted in a pair of very clumsy elongated pontoons usually constructed in the form of enclosed and sealed air tins for floating purposes and often being as long as nine and one-half feet. With bog shoes, one attached to each foot, a person may shufile along the water over wild rice or weeds or a soft bottom and in that way move about areas of a lake, obtain good jump shooting and have access to places which are impossible to get to with a boat.

Not only have the bog shoes previously used been long and clumsy, but the re-eniorcing means utilized and the sealing of the entire top and foot compartments of the pontoons have caused such shoes to be very heavy. No bog shoes to our knowledge have been sufficiently light to satisfy duck hunters needs, nor has provision been made for storing ammunition and other supplies in the bodies of the shoes.

Duck boats have been very widely used, and while in some instances they are readily portable the same heretofore have often been diflicult to launch in the water, particularly where the shore is extremely soft and boggy as is the case in many lakes where good duck shooting is available.

It is an object of our present invention to provide a comparatively simple, but highly efficient combination boat and bog shoes which may be conveniently used for shuffling through a marsh or soft bottom slough and which may be Very quickly and easily connected together to form an efficient duck boat with a seat disposed above and between the two shoes or pontoons.

Portability and ease in getting the boat into the water are important objects of our invention, as are lightness of weight, efiicient re-enforcement of the pontoon bodies, storage space and minimum length.

It is a further object to provide apparatus of the type described, the pontoons or shoes of which may be constructed for the most part of very light weight sheet material such as metal re-enforced efiiciently by certain shaping ofthe body and further by a light but efiicient frame I disposed in the central portion of each of the through and parting weeds and rushes and other natural impediments.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully set forth in the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views, and in which- Fig; 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of our apparatus set up in the form of a duck boat;

Fig. .2 is a detail section taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a' detail section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1;:

Fig. 4 is a detail section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing the attachment of the combined seat and spacing means to the opposing gunwales of the two pontoon members;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail vertical section showing the re-enforced construction of the bottom of one of the shoes and the means for attachment of a human foot. I

Fig. 8 is a detail View showing one of the elements for flexibly coupling the pontoons together for certain purposes. 7

As shown in the drawings, We provide a pair of identical pontoons or shoes, each constructed in somewhat the general form of a small elongated boat and having a converging bow portion B which terminates in a Weed parting edge I l, and the bottom surface of which slopes upwardly from the waist portion of the pontoon to the parting edge II. The stern portion S of the pontoon is of what is generally known to sportsmen as beaver tail shape, as will be apparent from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 5. The waist portion of the pontoon is defined by substantially parallel vertical walls 12. The body of the two pontoons is constructed of thin sheet material such as sheet metal of a nature which will not rust and the sheet metal is folded along the longitudinal lines Z, m, n, o and p to form beveled surfaces on the deck and to substantially re-enforce the deck, bottom and sides of the pontoon.

For additional re-enforcing means a skeleton box frame is provided in the waist portion of the boat consisting in forward, rearward and intermediate uprights IB, about which the sheet metal body is bent and to which the same may, if desired, be attached to longitudinal stringer members l4 and I5 connecting the upper and lower ends respectively of uprights I3. In addition to this frame, the bottom of the waist portion of the boat is re-enforced by a stiff rectangular sheet I6 which may be constructed of strong veneer or other suitable material and which extends from the stern to the bow on the flat bottomed waist portion. A foot accommodating chamber is defined at its upper portion in the deck by an upstanding gunwale I I which also acts as further re-enforcing means, and a cross strip I8 positioned above and secured to the intermediate re-enforcing beam I9 of the framework is secured across the gunwale and is of the same height thereof, defining in conjunction with recesses I'Ia in the rear portion of the sides of the gunwale, means for receiving the ends of the spacing and seat board 20 when it is desired to convert the shoes to a duck boat.

The deck it will be noted covers the entire bow and stern portions of the boat as well as a part of the waist, and overhangs the side walls of the waist for some distance, creating in conjunction with the body and skeleton framework, relatively large storage chambers where ammunition, paddles, poles and supplies may be conveniently disposed. A foot attachment means is provided for each of the pontoons as shown in the form of a foot plate ZI, secured by suitable means such as cleats 22 to the top of the bottom re-enforcing sheet I6 and having associated therewith an adjustable foot strap 22a which may be attached to holes formed in foot board 2 I, as shown in Figs. 6 and '7, or it may be connected with the metal cleats 22, as shown in Fig. 1. The foot plate 2| is adjustable within cleats 22 and secured by means of screws 22b.

The buoyancy of our pontoons or shoes does not depend upon the disposal therein of sealed air tins or containers but in the manner of the usual boat construction depends upon displacement of water on the part of the hull or body. If desired, of course, air containers such as properly shaped tins or flexible tire inner tubes may be utilized, but this is entirely unnecessary.

In utilizing our apparatus as bog shoes, the feet are fastened in the holders and supplies or even a gun may be housed within the chambers of the pontoons as well as the paddle and pole. The hunter shuffles through the mud, weeds or bog in much the manner of a person using snow shoes and the peculiarly shaped bow portion of the shoes causes the weeds and other impediments to be parted in the forward movement as well as prevents the tips of the bow portion from tending to be forced below surface material, the sloping bottom of the bow always causing the shoes to be urged above obstruction. The beaver shaped tail while making turning easy, furnishes the necessary surface abutment to enable progress to be made step by step.

In actual practice it has been found that with the proper width of pontoon which does not interfere with progress or add substantial weight a length of approximately seven feet is adequate to give the support or buoyancy essential to the use of the structure for bog shoes or as a boat with adequate safety.

For conversion of the shoes to a duck boat means are provided to connect the. two pontoons together in predetermined spaced relationship and a seat is furnished over and between the rear intermediate portions of the two shoes. To this end a seat board 20, the end portionsof which fit in the gunwale recesses I'Ia, is readily connectable with the rear sides of the gunwale: as shown in the following manner. Upstanding brackets 24 are secured to the sides of the rear portions of the gunwale recess having overhanging flanges 24a which fit over the ends of the seat board I8. For detachability wing nuts 25 engage screws 26 fixed to the ends of the seat board and project longitudinally therefrom. To prevent rocking of the pontoons relatively to the seat board and to each other, connection is made between the opposing gunwale sides of the two pontoons by means of interlocking angle plates 21 and 28 secured respectively to the gunwale sides and the medial portions of the seat board at its lower side, the more or less Z-shaped plates 28 of the seat board engaging the lower edges of angle plates 21 when the boat is set up. At their forward portions the two pontoons are connected together and spaced apart by a bar 29 which has one end flattened and bevelled and pivotally connected by a bolt 30 to the front end of gunwale IT. The opposite end of bar 29 is flatted, bent back upon itself and then angled at 29a to engage the corner at the forward end of the gunwale, as shown in Fig, 1. The angled portion is slotted at its lower edge to facilitate attachment beneath the wing nut 3I threadedly engaged with the bolt 32 which extends through the gunwale. When the pontoons are not connected or used for bog shoes, the bar 2 I, of course, is disconnected from the wing nut 3| and is swung across the forward deck of the pontoon.

Drain apertures D are formed in the decks of each of the pontoons disposed adjacent the front end of the bow and the rear end of the stern respectively to permit any water which has been splashed into the pontoons to be drained by tipping the pontoons.

In shufiiing or skiing through areas close to open water and where there is little bottom or weed substance, we have found that by flexibly coupling together the two pontoons, a hunter may pole himself standing in erect position into the open water. To this end we provide for such purpose a pair of flexible elements such as ropes 33 equipped at each end with a snap hook 34 for attachment to the opposing sides of the gunwales of the two pontoons (see Figs. 1 and 8). The said flexible connections furthermore facilitate spaced coupling of the pontoons together to form a boat, being of the proper length to dispose the pontoons the correct distance for initially applying the seat board 20.

In the use of our apparatus coupled together as a duck boat, it will be noted that the spaced pontoons afford a wide and efficient base of resistance for shooting and provide a structure which offers much less resistance to weeds and obstructions in launching the boat and is the case with the duck boats now widely utilized. Furthermore, in launching a boat the pontoons may be separately carried or dragged through mud and bog to the edge of the water and there assembled or quickly assembled after the hunter shuffles out in the weeds or bog to a position close to clear water. The seat board 20 is quickly and easily attachable in the water and may be stowed away in the compartments of one of the pontoons. In attaching the seat board the same is first disposed across the pontoons in the recesses I'Ia provided in the gunwale and with the wing nuts 25 loosened, and the pontoons are spaced apart slightly greater than the spaced distance when fixedly coupled. Brackets 24a on the gunwales are then spaced slightly from the ends of the seat board and the interlocking elements 2'! and 23 for the inner side edges of the gunwales being not then interlocked. Thereupon, by tightening the wing nuts 25 the pontoons are drawn slightly together and the interlocking elements 21 and 2B are operatively lapped to rock the inner sides of the gunwales together. It will be noted that when properly coupled together relative movement of the two pontoons is prevented by the attachment of the seat board in a relative forward or backward direction and furthermore relative rocking of the pontoons is prevented in a number of difierent directions. The connection of the extremities of the seat board with the outwardly disposed edges of the gunwale prevents downward making of the outer edges of the pontoon relative to the seat board while the interlocking connection of the elements 21 and 28 in cooperation with the locking of the extremities of the seat board prevents both up and down movement of the inner opposed edges of the pontoons relative to each other or to the seat board as well as any rocking movement of the outer edges of the pontoons relative to the seat board. Connections which will prevent such rocking and shifting movements are essential for success in a device of this kind. However, through the resiliency and pivoting of the forward connecting bar 29 limited shifting movement between the forward ends of the pontoons is provided which is sometimes necessary in poling or paddling the board over obstructions or weeds. In hunting from the boat the hunter sits in the seat 20 between the pontoons and may rest his gun across the gunwale or, if desired, a tray may be utilized traversing the opposing sides of the gunwales and secured to the forward bar 29. Paddling or poling of the boat may be acoomplished at the sides of the pontoons or through the space between the waist portions of the two coupled pontoons. With our improved structure utilizing light sheet metal and the emcient skeleton frame at the waists of the pontoons, the entire equipment may be durably made not to exceed forty pounds. Thus, when uncoupled a hunter may very easily carry one under each arm, and the pontoons with the coupling means housed within their compartments may be very easily transported or secured to an automobile for transportation.

In utilizing the pontoons as bog shoes adjustment of the position of the foot plates 2| for proper distribution of weight in accordance to the particular needs of the hunter is often desirable. Some individuals shuffle or ski with the pontoons in a different manner than others. Our apparatus makes provision for adjustment by releasing the screws 221) on the foot plate retaining cleats, adjusting the plates 2! rearwardly or forwardly until desired weight distribution is obtained, whereupon the screws may be re-secured with the plates in the adjusted position.

We have found that a very convenient way of carrying the equipment on a motor car is to surround the forward and rear ends of the two pontoons with inflated inner tubes above the top of the car and then merely secure the device to the sides of the car or to brackets mounted on the top. If it is desired to tow the coupled together device, a draft rope or couple arranged in triangular form may be secured to apertured portions or eyes formed in the forward weedparting edges of the bows of the two pontoons.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that we have provided apparatus which may be utilized in a highly successful manner as bog shoes for skiing or shuffling through mud and bog and which may be quickly converted on the water or on the shore into a highly efiicient duck boat.

Attention is called to the fact that portions of our pontoons, to wit; the bottom portions of the waist which receive the greatest strain and wear, are re-enforced on the bottom faces by the Veneer or sheet material I6 at the lower side edges by the stringer members It at intermediate side portions by the uprights l3. This provides durability while adding only a small amount of weight to the sheet bodies of the pontoons.

It'will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, proportions and arrangements of the various parts without departing from the scope of our invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination device for use as a hunting boat and as bog shoes having in combination, a pair of relatively narrow, elongated pontoons each comprising, an upwardly sloping bow portion, a waist portion and a stern portion, means within each of said waist portions for accommodation of and attachment with a human foot,

detachable rigid connection members for maintaining said pontoons in spaced relation and for preventing longitudinal shifting of said members to form a boat, said connection members when in use extending transversely of said pontoons and over the tops thereof, and readily attachable securing means adjacent the ends of said connection members for attachment to said pontoons, one of said connection members having attachment elements for rigid attachment to said pontoons at points rearwardly of the transverse center lines of said pontoons to prevent relative tipping of said pontoons when connected, and one of said connection members being'disposed forwardly of said waist portions and having an attachment element for pivotal connection with one of said pontoons on the horizontal longitudinal axis to permit relative lifting of the bow portions of said pontoons.

2. A device adapted to form when assembled a hunting boat having in combination, a pair of relatively narrow, elongated pontoons, detachable, rigid connection members for maintaining said pontoons in spaced relation and for preventing longitudinal shifting of said members to form a boat, said connection members when in use extending transversely of said pontoons and over the tops thereof, readily attachable securing means adjacent the ends of said connection members for attachment to said pontoons, one of said connection members having attachment elements for rigid attachment to both of said pontoons at points rearwardly of the transverse center lines of said pontoons to prevent relative tipping of said pontoons when connected, and one of said connection members being disposed at the forward portions of said pontoons and having an attachment element for pivotal connection to one of said pontoons on the horizontal, longitudinal axis to permit relative lifting of the bow portions of said pontoons.

HARRY LAWRENCE RICHARDS. KIND'Y C. WRIGHT. 

